Setting up to defend the pass

[rayzor]

I didn't see you asked a question. Just some comment about taking a poor angle nonsense.

What changed? Did you watch the season? If you had you would know that we became more physical, played tighter coverage and were generally better able to defend the pass than before when we gave up too much cushion, waited to break on the ball too long and missed a bunch of tackles.

Why was he expendable? I don't have insider knowledge but I suspect he wasn't happy with the changes and was a vocal critic they decided to get rid of him. Just like we did with Jenkins and others who complain. The only one who complains ans we have kept is Smitty. maybe he is next.....

admit it...you're wearing one.

[panthers55]

I personally think Martin moves to strong safety (it makes sense because that's traditionally where our signal-callers in the secondary play, also because I think if they liked him better at free safety, he would have stayed there when Godfrey came back.) but either way, I think they're looking at Martin to be that guy. Again, we'll see. I'm not going to knock him for only starting five games last season when you can easily make the argument that Jimmy Clausen, personality-wise, is much better suited to being a leader at quarterback than what Matt Moore has shown. It's worth nothing that, as far as age goes, Martin is older than any of our projected starters, except for Gamble. Don't count him out.

If they move anyone to SS it will be Godfrey. He tends to hit harder than Martin. I suspect they will keep Martin at FS as he is better in coverage. But all this assumes they both stay healthy which didn't happen for Godfrey last year. Getting rid of guys like Harris makes us painfully thin beyond the starters.

As for Clausen, lets see what happens. I think Moore by virtue of his experience will be much better than living or dying with Clausen. Then again I remember all the travails we went through while Collins learned the ropes back in 1995. Not sure I want to do that again.

[Seamonk]

I didn't see you asked a question. Just some comment about taking a poor angle nonsense.

What changed? Did you watch the season? If you had you would know that we became more physical, played tighter coverage and were generally better able to defend the pass than before when we gave up too much cushion, waited to break on the ball too long and missed a bunch of tackles.

Why was he expendable? I don't have insider knowledge but I suspect he wasn't happy with the changes and was a vocal critic they decided to get rid of him. Just like we did with Jenkins and others who complain. The only one who complains ans we have kept is Smitty. maybe he is next.....

Rewatch the giants game and note the positions of Harris and Godfrey on the field.

[SmootsDaddy89]

If they move anyone to SS it will be Godfrey. He tends to hit harder than Martin. I suspect they will keep Martin at FS as he is better in coverage. But all this assumes they both stay healthy which didn't happen for Godfrey last year. Getting rid of guys like Harris makes us painfully thin beyond the starters.

As for Clausen, lets see what happens. I think Moore by virtue of his experience will be much better than living or dying with Clausen. Then again I remember all the travails we went through while Collins learned the ropes back in 1995. Not sure I want to do that again.

I think martin would be fine at either position, and I thought Godfrey was much better in coverage at the end of last year than at the start. It'll be interesting to see where those two line up at mini camp

As far as Clausen goes, I don't think he has the inside track AT THIS POINT. But I could certainly see him winning the job when all is said and done. Collins wasn't really in the same position that Clausen is in. (Did Collins run a pro-style offense when he was at Penn State? I can't remember for the life of me.) Mainly because Clausen has a lot more talent around him on offense than Kerry did in 1995. Plus, I think he's going to go through growing pains his first season as a starter either way, whether it's now or later. So I wouldn't be opposed to him working the kinks out now, especially if this DOES turn out to be a rebuilding year.

[panthers55]

admit it...you're wearing one.

Admit it you are wearing a pair.

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/i_spend_the_day_wearing_rosecolored_glasses.html

[rmoneyg35]

LOOK AT OUR DEF.....LOOK!!! PEOPLE....

i believe some1 said it before but T.Davis back at safety/lb...E.Norwood lb/de...see where this is going...multi-positions players....DUH....i could go on and on but who knows who else could be watching...remember not every1 up here is a FAN....some of yall wanna throw HEAT at not only our FO, coaches, players...and now at each other...fans hating on fans...a new low.

Well only way to go from here is.......UP UP and AWAY..

btw plz visit my thread anytime...Purr-Fit Season...be up all year long...cuz unlike most i'm not going to complain...I'm going play my position and be a FAN...TRU FAN...and keep it cool for my team

Thomas Davis has built the body of a linebacker over the years by adding a lot of weight. He doesn't have the speed to be a safety. He coverage skills were horrible his rookie year and was always getting beat. Remember his first game? I do he was a safety and showed his lack of coverage skills. He is a great linebacker not safety.

[panthers55]

I think martin would be fine at either position, and I thought Godfrey was much better in coverage at the end of last year than at the start. It'll be interesting to see where those two line up at mini camp

As far as Clausen goes, I don't think he has the inside track AT THIS POINT. But I could certainly see him winning the job when all is said and done. Collins wasn't really in the same position that Clausen is in. (Did Collins run a pro-style offense when he was at Penn State? I can't remember for the life of me.) Mainly because Clausen has a lot more talent around him on offense than Kerry did in 1995. Plus, I think he's going to go through growing pains his first season as a starter either way, whether it's now or later. So I wouldn't be opposed to him working the kinks out now, especially if this DOES turn out to be a rebuilding year.

I am glad you are happy with the rebuilding year label. I am not. I want the best product my money can buy on the field, not a collections of rookies and nobodies purchased on the cheap to ensure Richardson makes millions more than the millions he made last year. What is lost in all of this saving money for the lockout crap is that we made millions last year with our payroll we had. But I digress....................................

Penn State has always run more of a traditional pro set when they had a decent quarterback. Collins was used to being under center and running a traditional offense. As for comparing the 1995 team to this one I wouldn't neessarily say we have more talent now. I bet we had more veterans on that team than this one does.

As for Clausen, lets see what he can do. I would love for him to be our next franchise quarterback but hope he stays on the bench learning for the foreseeable future.

[KillerKat]

Thomas Davis is not moving back to safety, Jesus Christ. And I think whoever is better in coverage will be starting at FS and from what I saw last season that looked to be Martin.

[panthers55]

Rewatch the giants game and note the positions of Harris and Godfrey on the field.

First of all, one game doesn't tell the tale of the other 12 he played in?

What am I supposed to see by the way??

[SmootsDaddy89]

I said if, I personally don't think that it necessarily is at this point. But if we start losing games right off the bat, I really don't see any point in keeping Clausen on the bench if we feel he's our guy in the near future. For the record, I thought things were going to go badly after the 2009 preseason, so we'll see how I feel in August.

[Seamonk]

First of all, one game doesn't tell the tale of the other 12 he played in?

What am I supposed to see by the way??

It's not their play, but moreso how they began to use the safeties.. They flip flopped them a lot, so in a sense, Meeks wants them to know both positions aka be athletic at both positions at safety. Remember, Chris Harris was a Trgovac defense hire, this is Meeks' defense now.

[Seamonk]

THANK YOU...I see you read my post early

what post...

[rmoneyg35]

I always like Harris, His coverage skills were never the best. His first year here he forced 8 and had 90 tackles. The next year he started off strong and he had a forced fumble the first two games and looked to have another strong year. He didn't. He only has had 2 forced fumbles each year since his first year here. Either his Work eithic or other teams noticing how he can create fumbles has limited him doing so. On a Positivehe had 3 interceptions this year which is a carreer high but I don't think the hard hitting safety fits Meeks scheme.

We had one of the top passing defenses in the league (TDs gave up Ranked 2nd, yards were 4th) . Opponents completion percent was 60% but we also gave up a bunch of short passes that couldnt be stoped.

My question is was Chris Harris's playing time shortened this year or not? I just cant see our defense doing as well as it did without him loosing playing time to Godfrey, Martin or Teel?

[SorthNarolina]

I guess you must have forgotten that the Saints were 6th in rushing last year, and Atlanta was 15th. To win in this division you have to be good against the run and the pass. Given that we were 4-2 in the division last year with Harris, how are we going to be better without him if we end up 28th against the run this year.

And as for Vick- he ran against us all day which would argue for better run defense not pass defense.

Maybe you should try again........

We'll if we end 28th then obviously we would be worse but I don't see that happening.

I don't see how you thought I was talking about pass defense with Vick. I was talking about how much effort we put into stopping him from destroying us always scrambling around. 2002 was embarrassing. Our invincible D-line was powerless against him.

T. Davis didn't really start to show his stuff until he was sent to spy Vick all day. You can see what the coaches had in mind when they drafted him. We used a little 5 man fronts as well. The coaching staff really made stopping Vick a priority.

It's kind of funny that you mentioned passing though because I remember we were about the only team he could pass on early in his career. He was just plain poison.

Have you forgotten how bad the defensive tackle position was last year? It was destroyed by injuries. That is what made the run defense so poor. Look at the 2008 giants game for example, as soon as Kemo went down it was over. We totally neglected the position for two years.

Chris Harris stopped a lot of running plays at the LOS and it was his best quality. But the loss of Harris is nothing compared to losing 3 defensive tackles to injuries. We had guys off the street starting. With Harris we have a 2nd rounder to take his place. Or maybe Godfrey moves over.

Also what have you seen of Sherod Martin to think he wont be successful?The jury is still out but he played very well in his limited opportunities.